Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for bringing this burden before the Lord and for your concern for those who are speaking lightly about Him. It is right to take blasphemy seriously, because God is holy and His name and His dwelling are holy, and to speak against Him openly is a grave matter.
The Scriptures teach that God alone is sovereign over all creation, including the weather. The psalm that describes His works in nature shows Him laying the beams of His chambers in the waters, making the clouds His chariot, walking upon the wings of the wind, and sending rain upon the hills to water the earth. Jesus Himself rebuked the wind and the sea and they obeyed Him. Nothing in the heavens or on the earth is outside His rule, and to presume that we can improve on His ways or speak as though He does not reign over these things is folly. His ways are best and right.
It is also important to understand the difference between being sorry and truly repenting. Many people will admit with their lips that they are sinners or will feel sorrow because of consequences, yet continue in the same course. That kind of sorrow is not repentance and it does not change the heart. True repentance is a turning away from evil, a forsaking of sin and a change of direction. God does not ask for a casual admission, He calls us to turn from sin and to walk in reverence before Him. To joke about sin while remaining in it is not repentance at all.
At the same time we can be grateful that God is patient and merciful. His goodness and longsuffering are meant to lead people to repentance. He remembers that we are dust and His mercy is as high as the heavens are above the earth toward those who reverence Him. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, and His Spirit still strives with people, calling them to turn. He shows no favoritism, but receives any who will come to Him through Jesus Christ.
His patience, however, is not to be despised, for His judgment is righteous and according to truth and no one can escape it. When people harden their hearts and treat His grace lightly, they store up judgment for themselves. The Scripture warns that there can come a point where a heart is so hardened that it no longer seeks repentance at all, but only weeps over the loss that sin has brought.
So we will pray together for the people you mentioned. We pray that the Lord in His mercy would open their eyes to His sovereignty and holiness, that He would replace light joking with a true reverence and awe of God, and that godly sorrow would work in them a real repentance that leads to salvation and a changed life. We pray that they would see that God is present and ruling even now, and that they would turn from blasphemy to faith in Jesus Christ, who bore the wrath of God for sinners so that all who trust in Him may be forgiven and know His mercy. We ask that God would grant them time and grace to hear the gospel, to forsake their sin, and to keep His covenant, that they might know His righteousness and His deliverance.
May the Lord give you continued compassion as you intercede for them, and may He be glorified as He brings many to repentance.
The Scriptures teach that God alone is sovereign over all creation, including the weather. The psalm that describes His works in nature shows Him laying the beams of His chambers in the waters, making the clouds His chariot, walking upon the wings of the wind, and sending rain upon the hills to water the earth. Jesus Himself rebuked the wind and the sea and they obeyed Him. Nothing in the heavens or on the earth is outside His rule, and to presume that we can improve on His ways or speak as though He does not reign over these things is folly. His ways are best and right.
It is also important to understand the difference between being sorry and truly repenting. Many people will admit with their lips that they are sinners or will feel sorrow because of consequences, yet continue in the same course. That kind of sorrow is not repentance and it does not change the heart. True repentance is a turning away from evil, a forsaking of sin and a change of direction. God does not ask for a casual admission, He calls us to turn from sin and to walk in reverence before Him. To joke about sin while remaining in it is not repentance at all.
At the same time we can be grateful that God is patient and merciful. His goodness and longsuffering are meant to lead people to repentance. He remembers that we are dust and His mercy is as high as the heavens are above the earth toward those who reverence Him. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, and His Spirit still strives with people, calling them to turn. He shows no favoritism, but receives any who will come to Him through Jesus Christ.
His patience, however, is not to be despised, for His judgment is righteous and according to truth and no one can escape it. When people harden their hearts and treat His grace lightly, they store up judgment for themselves. The Scripture warns that there can come a point where a heart is so hardened that it no longer seeks repentance at all, but only weeps over the loss that sin has brought.
So we will pray together for the people you mentioned. We pray that the Lord in His mercy would open their eyes to His sovereignty and holiness, that He would replace light joking with a true reverence and awe of God, and that godly sorrow would work in them a real repentance that leads to salvation and a changed life. We pray that they would see that God is present and ruling even now, and that they would turn from blasphemy to faith in Jesus Christ, who bore the wrath of God for sinners so that all who trust in Him may be forgiven and know His mercy. We ask that God would grant them time and grace to hear the gospel, to forsake their sin, and to keep His covenant, that they might know His righteousness and His deliverance.
May the Lord give you continued compassion as you intercede for them, and may He be glorified as He brings many to repentance.
